Razer Basilisk Essential (2019)

The SteelSeries Wireless Rival 650 Mouse (2018) is an example of a great Gaming Mouse at its $140 budget.

In the case of the Razer Basilisk Essential (2019), however, we weren't able to find enough data to come to any reliable conclusions.

The SteelSeries Wireless Rival 650 Mouse (2018) has done great in quite a few roundups from some of the most highly trusted sources available, such as Wirecutter (NYTimes), PCmag, and Wirecutter, which perform high-quality in-depth testing. It got awarded the "Also great" title by Wirecutter (NYTimes), "Best for Cross-Genre Power Gamers" by PCmag, and "Also great" by Wirecutter in their respective roundups. Earning that much praise from such respected sources is undoubtedly an impressive accomplishment.

As for the Razer Basilisk Essential (2019), it was really well-received by reviewers at PCmag, a reliable source that's known for conducting its own, high-quality, in-depth testing. It performed great in its "The Best Computer Mice for 2020" roundup and was named its "Best for Budget-Minded Gamers", which, on its own, makes it a product that warrants a closer look.

We examined all of the review data that we could find and first took a look at sources that reviewed both of them, like PCmag, and found that they haven't shown a preference for either product.

Then we checked which sources liked these two Gaming Mice best and found that the SteelSeries Wireless Rival 650 Mouse (2018) got its highest, 9, review score from reviewers at GBAtemp, whereas the Razer Basilisk Essential (2019) earned its best score of 8 from PCmag.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Gaming Mice on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Gaming Mice being 7.5 out of 10, whereas the SteelSeries Wireless Rival 650 Mouse (2018) and Razer Basilisk Essential (2019) managed averages of 8.4 and 7.8 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct SteelSeries Wireless Rival 650 Mouse (2018) vs. Razer Basilisk Essential (2019) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.